This year’s BSG conference at UWE/University of Bristol was great.  The session I presented in was organised and well attended.  It was nice to have a supportive audience who were interested in the work that I have carried out.  I submitted my PhD thesis in July and the presentation enabled me to present some of the findings from the investigation which involved the computer game consoles, the Nintendo Wii and Sony PS-2. 

Presenting at the BSG conference has enabled me to build upon my gerontology knowledge and presenting my research to individuals from the gerontology field has been a great experience. 

I started attending BSG conferences in 2007, where I found a warm and welcoming reception from the attendees.  The conference(s) have given me the opportunity to network with a variety of people from a multitude of organisations and fields. 

The bursary has allowed me to financially afford to continue building my network and listen to a great programme of speakers, without this assistance this would not have been possible.  I hope the bursary programme will continue, and grow especially on an international level, with the work been carried out with the Chair of ERA and Chair of ESPO, building an international student exchange.  Funding assistance through the bursary programme will hopefully give many students the opportunity to network, present and learn from academics and fellow students.     

I would like to echo previous statements relating to funding assistance for students as it is near on impossible to attend conferences without funding.  Students commencing programmes would benefit greatly from attending the conference(s), and I hope this continues in the future